Airbus now fully owns SAE

A Beluga transport plane belonging to Airbus is pictured in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Regis DuvignauREGIS DUVIGNAU

October 12, 2017 @ 9:13pm

NST Business

KUALA LUMPUR: Sepang Aircraft Engineering (SAE) Sdn Bhd, a maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) centre is now a fully owned subsidiary of Airbus, following the acquisition of its remaining shares by the French aircraft maker.

With this acquisition, SAE becomes an integral part of the Airbus Customer Services network and is set to represent a key element of Services by Airbus’ growth strategy in the dynamic Asia Pacific market.

“Since its creation in 2007, SAE has established a strong reputation in the MRO market for on-time and reliable service,” said Laurent Martinez, Head of Services by Airbus in a statement.

“Our ambition is for SAE to be a leading MRO in the region by becoming an innovation flagship for servicing Airbus commercial aircraft.”

SAE had just last month launched its second hangar to meet the increasing demand, which pushed its combined floor area to some 50,000 square metres.

The first hangar can accommodate up to six single-aisle aircraft or two widebody aircraft, while the second hangar can accommodate two A320 aircraft at any time for major maintenance checks.

It also features Malaysia’s first eco-friendly closed-door dedicated paint bay, as well as state-of-the-art workshops for the repair and overhaul of a wide range of aircraft components, including hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

SAE provides spare parts and technical support services to the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s fleet of A400M military airlifters.

The facility also houses a major regional inventory of spare parts for Airbus single-aisle and wide-body aircraft for airlines that have selected the Airbus Flight Hour Services (FHS) total support package for their fleets.

SAE currently employs some 500 people and its customers list includes the AirAsia Group, Cebu Pacific, Indigo, Jetstar Asia, Scoot, Malindo Air, MASWings, and VietJet Air amongs others.